Turkish Neurosurgery 2013 , Vol 23 , Num 4
Correlation of Matrix Metalloproteinase–3 Expression with Patient Age, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Histopathological Grade in Lumbar Disc Degeneration
Suat CANBAY1, Nesrin TURHAN2, Melih BOZKURT3, Kemal ARDA4, Sukru CAGLAR3
1Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, Turkey
2Turkiye Yuksek Ihtisas Teaching and Research Hospital, Department of Pathology, Ankara, Turkey
3University of Ankara, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, Turkey
4Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Department of Radiology, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.7459-12.0 Aim: The purpose of the present study is to analyze the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) grading and histopathological alterations of the intervertebral disc (IVD) for correlations with each other and with the age, gender and low back pain duration of the patients who had undergone operations for lumbar disc herniation (LDH).

Material and Methods: Forty-two patients were admitted to our clinic with signs of LDH and underwent surgery for LDH at 48 IVD levels. In all cases, specimens for histological and immunohistochemical analyses were removed from the IVD space. Lumbar IVD degeneration on MRI of the 48 IVDs from which surgical specimens had been obtained was classified into five grades using the Pfirrmann classification.

Results: In the degenerated IVD, the expression of MMP-3, MRI grading and histopathological alterations of the IVD displayed significant correlation. Increased age is closely related with aforementioned alterations. There was no correlation between MMP-3 expression and age, gender and duration of the pain.

Conclusion: For evaluating and treating IVD degeneration, MRI is a good and non-invasive diagnostic tool to determine the severity of degeneration. MMP-3 may be a therapeutic target of the degenerated IVD. Keywords : Disc degeneration, Histopathological changes, Matrix metalloproteinase-3, Magnetic resonance imaging

Corresponding author : Suat Canbay, suatcanbay@hotmail.com